Martin John Millett, (born 30 September 1955) is a British archaeologist and academic. From 2001 to 2022, he was the Laurence Professor of Classical Archaeology at the University of Cambridge and a professorial fellow of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge. Since 2021, he has been the president of the Society of Antiquaries of London.

Early life and education

Millett was born on 30 September 1955. He was educated at Weydon County Secondary School, a state school in Wrecclesham, Farnham, and Farnham College, a sixth form college in Farnham, Surrey. He went on to study at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts. He then undertook postgraduate studies at Merton College, Oxford, completing his Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) degree in 1980. His doctoral thesis was titled A comparative study of some contemporaneous pottery assemblages from Roman Britain.

Academic career

Millett was the assistant curator of archaeology at the Hampshire County Museums from 1980 to 1981. He then began his academic career, and joined Durham University in 1981. He was a lecturer from 1981 to 1991, and senior lecturer from 1991 to 1995. He was Professor of Archaeology between 1995 and 1998. Millett then moved to the University of Southampton where he was Professor of Archaeology from 1999 to 2001. In 2001, he joined the University of Cambridge as the Laurence Professor of Classical Archaeology. The appointment was accompanied by a Fellowship of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge. In 2012, he was appointed head of the School of Arts and Humanities at Cambridge. Millett excavated a Roman-period site in Yorkshire (with Peter Halkon). He is the director of the Roman Towns Project (with Simon Keay and the British School at Rome), and also the director of the Greek Colonization and Archaeology of European Development project. Millett has profoundly changed Romano-British archaeology by implementing and calling for new approaches to the excavated materials. Outside his university work Millett holds a number of appointments. He is a vice-president of the British Academy with responsibility for the British Academy Sponsored Institutes and Societies. He has held three senior positions at the Society of Antiquaries of London: he was director from 2001 to 2007, treasurer from 2007 to 2011, and its president since 2021. He is a member of the Antiquity Trust, which supports the publication of the archaeology journal Antiquity.

Honours

On 3 May 1984, Millett was elected Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London (FSA). In 2006, he was elected Fellow of the British Academy (FBA). In 2021, he was elected member of the Academia Europaea.

Select bibliography

A full bibliography is available at the Archaeological Data Service page for Millett.